9.30.2013

Dear Anti-Vaccine Concern Troll

I left a version of this comment on TPGA Facebook. But it bears repeating. Because there are still too many people who do not consider themselves "anti-vaccine" yet argue that vaccine risks are too high. Here's why they're wrong. Dangerously, badly wrong.

Dear Anti-Vaccine Concern Troll,

By
attempting to distance yourself from "anti-vaccine militants" you are Concern Trolling whether you are aware of it or not. Here's what's what:

4) Vaccine
reactions are real but extremely rare and do not include autism (autism is genetic & by the way: stop demonizing Autistic people like my son). Consider: you
could use a risks/benefits analysis to argue against people
riding in cars, but with cars the risks are statistically much more outsize, and few stop riding in cars even though we're aware of the
risks because we value the benefits too much. Which is how it should be with vaccines! However (again) vaccine benefits have become nearly theoretical, in
the US at least.

"...parents who don’t
vaccinate their children tell you they’re making a purely personal
choice. This is, of course, technically true, in the same sense that
driving after having a few beers is a personal choice. As the mother of
the 10-month-old hospitalized [with measles] in San Diego said, if people want to make
that choice, they should go live on an island with its own schools and
doctors: 'Their own little infectious disease island.'"

If you want all of our kids to stay healthy and safe, do what you can to counter anti-vaccine concern trolls.